We love our furry friends but owning pets can certainly take a toll on your home – particularly on your upholstery and carpeting. Pet hair and pet odors can be tough to get rid of but we have a few cleaning tips to help. Read on to find out how these cleaning tips can help you with pet odor removal and keep your furniture, carpeting, and upholstery clean.
Disclaimer: Before applying any cleaning product or other liquid you need to test in an inconspicuous area to make sure that it doesn’t cause another problem.
If you have extremely sensitive fibers like viscose/rayon, after gently lifting away the solids go directly to Super Sorb or Baking soda
To view our complete spotting procedure click here.
1. Gently Lift Away or Blot
Remove as much foreign contamination as possible but be careful of spreading or forcing it deeper into fibers.
Liquids; If it is a liquid and it is beading up, use the corner of paper towels to gently wick the excess liquid away (especially if fabric protection was applied). If you press down you will force the liquid deeper.
If it has already soaked in, use multiple layers of white cotton towels or paper towels and blot as much contamination as possible. I recommend standing on them and switching to clean dry ones as they absorb the liquid. When they are no longer absorbing any liquid go to the next step.
Solids or thick; use a large spoon and gently lift away the contamination and dispose of it in newspaper or paper towels. Avoid spreading by working from the outer edges to the middle.
If there is a liquid left try blotting using the above procedures.
2. Apply Pet Stain Odor Remover or Other Natural Enzyme Cleaners
To help remove discolorations and or stains. Apply just enough of these products to come in contact with the spot so you don’t keep spreading it out. Then gently agitate with the bottom of the bottle and ultimately blot with a clean white towel or paper towels. Do not scrub or agitate just blot by standing or applying pressure. Change to fresh towels as they become saturated.
Repeat until you are no longer getting a color transferring to your towels.
3. Apply Super Sorb, Sprinkle Baking Soda or Absorb with Towels Overnight
Sprinkle Super Sorb over a fresh spill on a rug or carpet immediately after your pet has an accident and it can help absorb the liquid and neutralize odor quickly. Ideally, the absorbent powder should sit on the carpet overnight or longer to absorb everything properly. After the absorbent powder has thoroughly dried, vacuum it until all the residue is removed.
You can also Sprinkle Super Sorb after cleaning up a spill or accident to help prevent rings and it also helps to ensure that any remaining residue is removed.
If you only have towels, you can fold them so they are at least 4 layers thick, then apply pressure overnight. I have a small rock ( the size of a grapefruit) that I keep in a closet for this.
4. Rinse with a Pet Odor Removal Neutralizing Solution
After you have removed the stain and let it dry you might want to rinse it. You can also try mixing one cup of water, with one ounce of white vinegar. You should add the mixture to a spray bottle and spray it over the area lightly but don’t saturate it. Blot it up with dry towels and let it dry.
5. Spray with Air Fresheners
Spraying your soiled carpet or rug with air freshener spray can help cover up the smell if you’re short on time and have guests coming over. Of course, this is a temporary fix and will not always neutralize the odor without leaving another scent behind. Most of these sprays do contain perfume so be sure to check the label for alcohol and other ingredients that can be damaging to delicate rugs or carpets.
6. Air Out the House or Rug
If your rug can be taken outside, bring it outside for a full 24 hours to get rid of the smell. Fresh air can really help. If you can’t, opening the windows can be very helpful in eliminating terrible scents from your home. Fresh air is a pretty effective carpet cleaning tool.
7. Prevent Pet Accidents
It’s tough and sometimes impossible to get rid of pet odors from carpeting and upholstery, especially if they soil these surfaces with urine. The best thing to do is try to prevent it from happening in the first place. Ensure your pet is trained not to soil the rugs or upholstery and that they have their own space to do this. We recommend using a pet containment system like Invisible Fence. They have many customized solutions for inside and outside and can be used on cats and dogs. Their expert training will ensure that your pets learn quickly and humanely. I believe I have the happiest dogs on the planet because they have full use of areas where they should be and know the boundaries of where they shouldn’t be.
8. Call in the Pros
It can be tough to get rid of pet odors the old-fashioned way. Calling in a professional cleaning service can help. Carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning can help get rid of even the toughest of odors. A professional cleaning company can also help by using the right tools and the right cleaners to protect your valuable rugs, carpets, and upholstery while successfully ridding your home of pet odor.
Contact the expert cleaning consultants at Chet’s Cleaning today to have all your pet odor removal services satisfied. Regular professional cleaning services can help keep your home odor-free all year round.